Slytherin's Riddle
by lianpe
Summary: A fic about Tom Riddle's time at Hogwarts - spanning the creation of his Death Eaters to his first horcruxes. Also features Nagini (as a human) before she gets turned permanently into a snake (my invention).
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! So...I've noticed how there aren't that many fics about Voldemort's school years, so I've decided to do something about that!**

 **Anyway, as a small summary: Voldemort's always been particularly close to Nagini so I thought, ok, what if she was a person who got transformed into a snake. The first chapter is written in Nagini's perspective but will shift to Tom Riddle's in the following chapters.  
**

Tom Riddle's eyes glanced haughtily at the brunette. "I find it absolutely atrocious that a Muggle-born such as yourself should be sorted into Slytherin."

Nagini felt her own eyes narrow in response. Drifting through orphanages, she wasn't a complete stranger to bullying gits - and Tom Riddle had to be the biggest bullying git she'd ever met.

"Yes, well, I don't hear you going on about me being Muggle-born when I beat you at exams."

The childishness of her response wasn't lost on Riddle's gang - Rudolphus Lestrange's superior smirk and Nott and Avery's knowing glances at each other were enough to tell her that she'd made a know-it-all fool of herself again. It was bad enough being the youngest in the grade without being considered a teacher's pet.

Riddle's dark eyes narrowed. "This isn't a place for Muggle-born scum - Slytherin has only ever had pure-bloods."

"Which you aren't." Nagini snapped.

He couldn't stop the flush rising in his pale cheeks, and his group around him glanced nervously at his twitching wand.

"Fighting, are we?"

The Transfiguration master, Professor Dumbledore, provided a very welcome distraction.

"No, Professor." Riddle replied, his tone not quite as respectful as it could be.

Professor Dumbledore gazed hard at him, through his half-moon spectacles. "I find it amusing, though not surprising, that you would lie to me, Tom. Brilliant as you are, I find your behaviour leaves much to be desired."

Riddle's flush deepened, and he glared at Nagini with pure hate. Used to it, she turned her back on him.

"Nagini, Professor Slughorn wants you - I'm afraid you won't be able to slip out of his latest invitation that easily." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, and he went on his way.

"Barmy old coot." Rudolphus snorted. "Surprised he doesn't trip over that beard of his."

That elicited a few cackles from the group, though Riddle remained silent.

Rolling her eyes, Nagini hurried off to Professor Slughorn's office. She passed Barney Clearwater as she did so, and his face was extraordinarily solemn.

"Did you get locked out again?"

Barney nodded, his expression not changing a fraction. "I never seem to get the answer right." He sighed. Surprisingly for a Ravenclaw, Barney had the brains of a gnat.

Perhaps it was this that made him a good friend, the fact that he was entirely devoid of a higher than average IQ. Nagini had a great mistrust of smart people - they seemed to always have their own agendas, none of them good. Fleetingly, she was reminded of Riddle.

"Well, you'll have to wait for Xenophilius to show up, then." She replied, in as sympathetic a tone as she could.

"Where are you off to?"

"Slughorn's." Nagini let out a great sigh. Professor Slughorn was by far her least favourite teacher, as she found him incredibly shallow. "I think he wants me to join the Slug Club."

Barney let out a roar of laughter. "Ha - I'm imagining you sitting next to Riddle and those 'Death Eaters' of his while old Slughorn pontificates like the dreadful bore he is."

"It's not funny!" Nagini hissed, annoyed at being laughed at. "I'd rather toss out my broom and never play another game of Quidditch than-"

"My, aren't you overreacting." Barney chuckled. "I'm sure it won't be that bad. There'll still be the food." His eyes widened a little.

"Merlin's broomsticks, Barney!"

"What? There's nothing wrong with being a fan of food-"

Grinning inwardly at Barney's food obsession, Nagini hurried on her way, her fingers crossed in the pockets of her robes, hoping that being late for Slughorn's meeting might make her lose favour with him.

 **okay, so that's it for the first chapter! Give it a read (if you want) and tell me what you think! ㈳3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so this doesn't exactly follow the events of the book. This is set during their fourth year, even though Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets during his fifth year. Also, Nagini (as a person) plays a pivotal role in the fic as I feel that Riddle couldn't do** _ **everything**_ **he's said to have done during his school years without some help. I also feel that establishing a connection between their characters would help him seem more human as everyone seems to hate his character without analyzing why he did what he did.**

 **So, here goes…**

Tom glared at the book in front of him with vehemence. The chapter it was opened at read:

'On the subject of the Chamber of Secrets no two wizards are of the same opinion, though it is widely agreed that the exact location of the chamber and the monster within are unknown. This had led many notable wizards and witches to claim that the existence of the Chamber is merely a joke on Slytherin's part to-'

Slamming the book shut, Tom fumed in silence. He'd spent weeks and weeks in the library searching for a scrap of credible information on the Chamber of Secrets and…nothing. Most books simply refused to acknowledge its existence – a belief that he could never share. Salazar Slytherin did not base his legend on jokes or lies, and even if he did Tom would not believe it of him.

"Tom?" Avery approached tentatively, noting the dark expression on the other boy's face. "Tom, is there–"

"I've told you not to call me that." Tom snapped, irritably. The thought of being called his Muggle father's name after being (in his opinion) let down by his ancestor was more than he could bear.

"I'm sorry – Voldemort." Avery's tone was strange and Tom half-wondered if the other boy was making fun of him.

Of course, Voldemort was a highly unusual name and this fact only increased its merit in Tom's estimation. It was terribly dull being named 'Tom' as he shared it with so many other people, and he most definitely did not appreciate being common. He liked to think of himself as decidedly uncommon.

"Anyway, Rudolphus was thinking that if you don't have any luck by yourself you might ask Nagini." Avery sat opposite Tom, his hands folded behind his head. "The Mudblood knows everything. If anyone's likely to find the Chamber first, it'll be her."

Tom frowned. The idea of asking a Muggle-born for help seemed, in his mind, unacceptable. If he was Slytherin's heir then he ought to figure out the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets himself.

"Tom." Avery touched his shoulder and, rather without meaning to, he flinched. "Sorry, sorry." Avery muttered, abashed. "No touching, I understand." He stood up, readjusting the Slytherin scarf around his neck. "So…the game starts in fifteen minutes, are you coming?"

Tom paused. He never really understood Quidditch – to him it was a silly game that ought to be restricted to the first years and not thought about by the seniors, but it seemed to bind the members of every house together. All the members of every house…except him.

Undeniably, he felt alone in his dislike of Quidditch. Sometimes, during his weaker moments, he'd felt as if he'd have liked to have had a friend, but a friend would prattle on about things that bored him and Tom couldn't bear that.

"No."

It was a little more than a whisper, but Avery seemed to hear. He nodded, waved, and was out of the library in a flash.

It was then, and only then, that Tom understood that his friends were bored by him. He'd promised them power, but he'd failed to his promise into fruition after four consecutive years.

The fact dawned on him that they'd moved on to other things. Rudolphus was very much taken up with Bellatrix Black, Nott with his studies, Avery with life in general, Rabastan with jinxing the Muggle-borns…the list went on as the whole lot of them seemed to have shifted their focus elsewhere.

This annoyed him, but it saddened a small part of him as well. Was that all he was meant to be, a fad that died out after it was no longer exciting?

Tom's gaze locked on a dark head, the only other person in the library. For a minute he was oddly comforted and then, recognizing whom the head belonged to, his spirits plummeted again.

Yet, remembering something Avery had said, his spirits seemed to lift once more. If the Mudblood was honestly that smart (and everyone seemed to think she was) then if he accidentally-on-purpose dropped something hinting at the Chamber of Secrets by her table, would she follow up on it? Could he count on her unknowingly solving the puzzle for him?

Unlocking the key to the Chamber of Secrets would, no doubt, restore confidence in him. His friends would not think of him as a bore any more.

Debating the thought with himself he decided to go through with it.

Opening _Hogwarts: A History_ to the appropriate page, he proceeded to saunter over to her table.

Tripping himself up, he knocked the book out of his hand and into her lap.

She frowned, gazing down at the book in her lap. " _Hogwarts: A History_? I'd expect better reading material from you, Tom. Were all the copies of _50 Ways to Hex Your Enemies_ taken?"

She was baiting him – being nasty in return for all the times he'd been a prat to her, but he didn't care. As long as she noticed the bit about the Chamber of Secrets, any and all insults would be paid for.

"Well, I intend to get full marks on Professor Binns' latest assignment."

Nagini laughed, a loud, scathing laugh that made Tom go scarlet. If there was anything he hated more than being thought of as common, it was being thought of as a joke.

"Good for you, Riddle, though you'd be better off studying _facts_ instead of this garbage." She handed the book back to him, glancing derisively at the illustration of the Chamber of Secrets.

"Oh, I am studying the facts – only a Mudblood like you wouldn't think of them as possible. I, on the other hand, know better."

Nagini's eyes narrowed considerably. "What are you saying, Tom?"

"Forget it, it doesn't concern you, Mudblood."

Her eyes followed him as he replaced _Hogwarts: A History_ on the shelf it had come from. He only hoped that he'd been convincing enough to stimulate her to do a bit of research on her own.

 **Well, that's that. A couple of diversions from the book (Bellatrix didn't go to school with Tom) (Avery wasn't a Quidditch fan) but I hope no one minds.**


End file.
